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Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

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Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#51

Post by saiya-jin »

misja111 wrote: post #21

Well it's only anecdotical of course, but I had a similar experience a couple of years ago that made me very confused about dentistry in general. At the time a had a small tooth ache so I was planning to visit a dentist to check it. I was living in Switzerland, where dentist costs are very high, but I was about to go on holiday to Tenerife, where prices are much lower. So I checked on the Internet and chose the denti…

the problem with this is also that given dentist has huge motivation to replace as much as he can and make big fuss over little. I mean it pays his bills/rooftop, some mortgages and few vacations on top of other costs... did I mention costs?

they are not more or less moral than rest of population, spread is the same as in all other professions, so experience vary

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#52

Post by pestatije »

bigDinosaur wrote: post #28
rsync wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here’s an easy heuristic: The trust you should afford to a dentist is inversely proportional to the amount of time and energy that dentist promotes teeth whitening products and solutions.

Probably a good heuristic, but weirdly I've never had a dentist try to sell me a single whitening product of any kind. Unfortunately that hasn't prevented some of my dentists from being terrible. Thankfully some of the bad ones have given me such obviously bad advice ('wait until you start feeling pain before you come back to me') that I knew to find another one pronto. I wonder if pushing products differs a lot betw…

> wait until you start feeling pain

That's actually good advice for some sort of cavities...the filling could fall if it is too shallow.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#53

Post by Mountain_Skies »

misja111 wrote: post #21

Well it's only anecdotical of course, but I had a similar experience a couple of years ago that made me very confused about dentistry in general. At the time a had a small tooth ache so I was planning to visit a dentist to check it. I was living in Switzerland, where dentist costs are very high, but I was about to go on holiday to Tenerife, where prices are much lower. So I checked on the Internet and chose the denti…

This is where review sites are starting to help. There's a dentist where I used to live who has dozens of reviews, all mentioning that she diagnosed them with microcavities, which couldn't be confirmed by those who got a second opinion. If you have a full blown cavity, you're going to notice but microcavities? You have to take your dentist's word for it or be sure to get a second opinion and hope at least one of them are honest and competent.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#54

Post by m000 »

misja111 wrote: post #21

Well it's only anecdotical of course, but I had a similar experience a couple of years ago that made me very confused about dentistry in general. At the time a had a small tooth ache so I was planning to visit a dentist to check it. I was living in Switzerland, where dentist costs are very high, but I was about to go on holiday to Tenerife, where prices are much lower. So I checked on the Internet and chose the denti…

Your friend was quite right. It is quite a bit like replacing aging parts in your car. You may have to eventually replace all your fillings. But you don't know for sure, or when. And it's very unlikely that all of them will fail at the same time.

So, unless a filling is already on the verge of failing, replacing them is mostly a matter of personal preference and scheduling.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#55

Post by ValentineC »

semicolon_storm wrote: post #24
TheFreim wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance is a similar one. The one who benefits from not paying is the one who chooses to accept or deny claims.

It looks that way to the consumer, but I don’t believe that to be true. I’ve worked in the industry for a few years and most of insurance products I’ve seen are structured in a way that the company reviewing and processing the claim isn’t actually responsible for paying out the claim.

> I’ve worked in the industry for a few years and most of insurance products I’ve seen are structured in a way that the company reviewing and processing the claim isn’t actually responsible for paying out the claim.

Is this in the US context, or whereever you're from?

It sure doesn't seem that way here in Singapore.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#56

Post by spupe »

paulcole wrote: post #29
spupe wrote: post #11

Always be skeptical when the person giving you a diagnosis also directly benefits from giving you a particular diagnosis. This goes for dentists, banking and so much more.

Can you give an example of a professional for whom this isn’t the case? Maybe a general practice doctor referring to a specialist? But often this involves trips back to the GP for checkups as well.

In many cases, you approach the business with the "diagnosis" already worked out: moving companies, car rental, electronic parts, etc. In fact those businesses usually have automated or semi-automated pricing. When the business needs to evaluate you individually, they have at least a temptation to take more money than they should. That temptation is either capped by regulation or reputation in my experience.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#58

Post by Broken_Hippo »

dazc wrote: post #17

> ...whose practice was a convenient 10-minute walk from Mitchell’s home, Not a good criteria for choosing a dentist. My dentist is a 4 hour drive away. I moved 10 years ago and I prefer the inconvenience over the risk that someone else will be selling me treatments I don't need. What I have learned over the years is that your teeth are in a constant state of deterioration and will never be perfect. There is always s…

Not a good criteria for choosing a dentist.

Sure it is - it is about as good as anything else you might wind up with, especially if you don't know anyone in the area, don't have a dentist for whatever reason, or simply cannot afford to travel such distances.

And to be fair, you won't realistically know that someone is selling you treatments you do not need and you can always decline if you suspect such a thing. I'm guessing the gas money will almost cover a second opinion at a local dentist, honestly.

Full disclosure: I chose my doctor based on proximity. I was fairly new in the country, had no way to get references, and figured it'd be about the same risk as any other method, all of which were mere guesses. Probably the best doctor I've had.

Re: Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

#60

Post by Broken_Hippo »

moffkalast wrote: post #18
xadhominemx wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read the article? One of two studies they provided was from Europe.

In my experience we've got these two options here: - socialized dentistry, where unless you're screaming in pain dentists take two peeks into your mouth and say it's fine and tell you to get out so they can take the next patient in the 200 person line outside (and shill their afternoon private practice to you if they happen to be the more shady type) - private dentistry, where they'll always find something random tha…

IIRC, Brazil includes dentistry in its regular healthcare. Cleanings are cheap-to-free so folks wind up getting cleanings and the like. There are also a lot of dentists in Brazil - I think it is the 3rd largest dental system and employes something like 15% of the world's dentists. Hardly rushing folks through while they scream in pain.

(I don't know the intricacies of the Brazilian system other than it includes dentistry and is a combination of private and public systems, so I might be wrong. Folks from Brazil seem to be happy enough with it, but they might be biased).

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